West Midlands

Market Drayton a market - so good that the town was named after it has been the home of gingerbread for the last 200 years. In the past, not content with rum in their secret recipe , decadent Draytonians dunked it in port. It is reputed to have curiously restorative powers.

A Saxon settlement referred to as Draitune in the Domesday Book and granted its market charter by Henry III, it has been home to one of the liveliest street markets ever since.

Every Wednesday Cheshire Street, the main road through the town, is closed off to allow local stallholders to set up and sell their wares. You’ll find everything from clothing and electrical goods to linens and products for pets. There is also much local, fresh produce that is ideal to liven up your dinner plate.

Oswestry has become a natural setting for a vibrant market town and today has the largest street market in the Borderlands, with more than its fair share of specialty shops and eateries jostling with the market stalls showing what a truly vibrant market town should be.

You will notice the influence of Wales is still strong and you’ll hear a distinct fusion of languages as you walk around. You’ll also see it reflected in the unique creativity of the local arts and crafts.

Shrewsbury, is Shropshire’s county town, founded by the Saxons and most extensively developed by the Tudors it lies within a giant loop of the river Severn and is famed for its castle, spires, abbey, parklands and half-timbered medieval houses. But while you marvel at all those gorgeous black & white buildings, let’s not forget that most of them remain just what they’ve always been shops. And that the Shrewsbury variety of shop tends to be quirkier and more interesting than elsewhere.